Pastel portrait painting of a young nude model laying on a blanket.

Pastel painting 19 inches x 23 inches

This is another 20-minute sketch from our figure drawing session last weekend. There are parts of this pastel portrait that I really like, and other areas that definitely need some work. But that’s part of the value of doing quick drawings from life. You don’t become TOO invested in them, and, with constant practice, you slowly learn to see and draw the human form with more assurance. And when you can draw a realistic body, you can draw just about anything! At least that is what I keep telling myself….

This artwork was created with
Paper: Canson Mi-Tients Sepia Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel portrait of a young model.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 18 inches

Well, I kept my New Year’s resolution to start attending my nude figure drawing sessions again. I managed to pull my bottom out of bed on Saturday morning and show up for class. We had a wonderful model who I really connected with artistically. This class tends to have all short poses: 2-minute warm-ups, then 10-minute sketches, and finally the “long” poses of 20 minutes. You have to work fast, no time for in-depth pondering. Just paint what you see, and do it quickly. The colors on this pastel portrait are very strong, but I felt they really captured her vibrant, intense personna.

I reused a piece of Canson Mi-Tients paper with an old portrait on it that I wasn’t in love with. (If you look closely, you can see the ghost of  man on the left side.) One of my new goals is to discard pieces that I am not totally proud of. And since art supplies are so expensive, I love the idea of recycling them and creating new art!

This artwork was created with
Paper: Canson Mi-Tients Felt Grey Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel landscape painting of a summer sky filled with cumulus clouds in Michigan.

Pastel paintings   18.5  inches x 15 inches

Ever since I was little I have kept my eyes to the skies and have reveled in the millions of compositions, colors and textures that happen there every day. It has always been a goal of mine to tackle some pastel landscapes where the focus is on clouds and light, not on the land below. This is my first large-scale studio attempt inspired from photos I took last summer when I was painting en plein air. I learned a lot on this one and plan on learning more in the sky studies to come!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Burgundy Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel garden painting of flowers in front of a home.

Pastel paintings   5  inches x 7 inches

This is the second of my “little gem” garden paintings that I worked on last week. The flowers were so rich and bright in front of the shaded house. They just begged to be captured in a pastel painting. I think I’m ready to move on to a larger piece. I’ve been thinking of starting a sky series…..hmmm….

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Aubergine Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel painting of a blue chair in a garden.

Pastel paintings   5  inches x 7 inches

I had a touch of the flu last week and just didn’t have the strength to consider a large piece. But I was aching to paint in pastel! So I decided to work on a few “little gem” garden paintings. I like switching back and forth between large works and tiny ones. They each teach me something and inform the other. I gave myself an hour time limit on this one and managed to loosen up a bit.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Aubergine Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel landscape painting of a stone path in a garden.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 12 inches

I found this sweet little path at one of our garden sites and knew I wanted to capture it in a pastel landscape painting. I loved the way the dappled sunlight fell on the rocks and plants. Our garden painting group has already amassed quite a lovely series of images for our summer show. I have posted them on a Picasa website for viewing purposes. Check them out at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108892146623391728929

Click on the album images and you will be able to see various artists’ paintings of each site. It is really interesting to see the different styles and views that each artist chose.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Kitty Wallis White Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel portrait painting of a young woman.

Pastel painting 12 inches x 18 inches

I know I am finally back in “art” mode when I regularly attend my portrait drawing sessions. Going every Monday (especially now that I am not working at my ad agency) gives a structure to my art time. I vow that I am going to start going every Saturday morning to my nude figure drawing class as well. Even though most of my gallery work is focused more on landscapes, there is soooo much to learn from drawing the human figure and trying to capture a good likeness of a person. There simply is no faking it. You have to DRAW WHAT YOU SEE, not WHAT YOU KNOW. It really forces you to use your vision and art skills at the highest possible level.

I was lucky to get an interesting profile view of the model for this pastel portrait. It made me realize that almost all of my previous attempts had been “straight on”. Time to mix it up!

This artwork was created with
Paper: Canson Mi-Tients Burgundy Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel floral painting of cascading flowers

Pastel painting   15 inches x 25 inches

This is a large pastel floral painting that I did a few years ago after visiting the San Diego Zoo. Funny that with all of the animals there, I chose to paint a bunch of flowers that were planted on a ridge. It was given an Honorable Mention award in the 2009 Pastel Journal 100 show. This piece will be exhibited along with many other wonderful pastel paintings at the upcoming Ann Arbor Pastelists show at the Ypsilanti Library from January 14 – March 15th, 2012. There will be an artist’s reception on Saturday, January 14th from 4 – 6pm. Hope you can stop by!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Burgundy Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel landscape painting of a Michigan field in July.

Pastel paintings   14 inches x 10 inches

Another pastel painting from one of our garden sites. Its not your usual garden painting filled with flowers and beds. This home was surrounded with acres of both formal and natural plantings, and fields and woods. I was really drawn to the open fields, rimmed with trees and the lone blue spruce made a nice focal point. I chose a rust-colored Art Spectrum Colourfix paper to start, so that the warm tone could peak through all of the greens and blues in the painting. Doing that helps to create a little interest and vibration between the colors.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel painting of ripe pears on a tree in a fruit orchard.

Pastel paintings   18 inches x 26 inches

Yay! My first finished pastel painting for 2012! Much as love the holiday season, I am usually very happy to get back to my normal routine and spend time in my studio.

I’ve been working on more garden paintings and trying to incorporate them into some of my other current series. When I saw these luscious pears at one of our garden sites, I just knew they would work wonderfully in my Orchard Series. This is a pretty large piece, but I felt I needed to go big to capture the feeling of space and depth I was looking for.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Burgundy Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel painting of the interior of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy

Pastel paintings   12.5 inches x 25.5 inches

I just love columns. In fact, most of my friends consider it a mild obsession. I have them everywhere in my house and office. They are so strong, stately and monumental. I especially love the columns that are topped with Corinthian capitals. So when I again visited the unbelievably beautiful Pantheon temple in Rome, I decided that I would try to capture some of the elements of Roman architecture that make my heart sing. In this pastel painting of Italy, I stayed true to the structural elements but bumped the color to create additional drama.

I was surprised an honored this week to find out that I was the Featured Artist on the Pastel News website. I subscribe to this site because I love to receive information about historical and current pastel artists. Never dreamed I would be one of them! Check it out here:

http://pastelnews.com/category/featured-pastel-artist/

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Aubergine Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel portrait painting of a young mother and her son at the ocean.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 13 inches   SOLD

My collector has given his wife this portrait painting for Christmas, so I can finally post it without spoiling the surprise! He called me on Christmas day to tell me how much she liked it…and how she cried when she opened the package. What a joy to make someone happy by making the art I love to make. Another part of my life that I am very thankful for.

I hope you all have a wonderful new year!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Kitty Wallis White Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels